Stephen De La Vega

  Some of us parents probably had ideas about how our baby’s birth would play out, especially moms. Or you might be looking forward to that day when you hold your firstborn in your arms, ready for a perfect entrance into the world. I’m honored to introduce you to Laura, a friend who had her own thoughts on her first birthing experience. Maybe it’s much like yours, or maybe it’s quite different. Either way, things didn’t go as planned…   Here is an interview with Laura about her delivery story with her husband Stephen (not me).   Hi Laura. Thank you for doing this interview with me and sharing your story on my blog. This is truly a pleasure for me and I’m excited to hear your story. Let’s first set the stage. Tell us about your birthing plans and how your pregnancy went before your precious baby came. Just before our 4th wedding anniversary in spring 2024, Stephen and I learned we were expecting our first baby, due in December, and we were overjoyed—praise God! My pregnanc...

Angels Landing stands 1,488 feet above the valley floor at Zion National Park in Utah, United States. It is perched behind me in the photo. I stood on Scout Lookout , the turnaround point of my hike with my wife and son. There were good reasons we didn’t continue to Angels Landing:   1.     My son was only 10 years old at the time and one misstep could’ve been fatal. 2.     We would’ve had to file within a string of hikers, so the rest of the way would’ve been at the pace of the crowd. 3.     We were exhausted! Whew!   So, Scout Lookout was where we celebrated and looked forward to the remaining, mostly downhill, 1.9 miles. A 3.8-mile round trip doesn’t sound long, but this hike was strenuous. Very strenuous. The trail was 81% paved, but that doesn’t mean the steep elevation gain with an incline of up to 23 ° under nearly continuous sun exposure was easy. The only hike that was more difficult for me in terms of physical e...